World Bank onside with Belt and Road Initiative

President of global body says countries should take advantage of opportunities

The World Bank supports the Belt and Road Initiative and will work with countries to leverage the initiative's full benefits, Jim Yong Kim, president of the 189-member global body, said on Thursday in Washington.

"I think two things that the world needs very much right now are strong leadership and an embrace of multilateral approaches to solving difficult problems, and the BRI is both of those things," Kim told a discussion that is part of the ongoing annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.